For many reconnaissance aircraft, higher altitude may be used to reduce the chance of detection and increase survivability. This may be at the expense of image quality or sensor resolution. Moreover, total sensor range may limit the line of site to relatively vertical angles, which may make viewing targets covered by natural or man made covers difficult. One solution is to deploy sensors on smaller aircraft to a lower altitude. This may allow the smaller aircraft to increase image/sensor quality by reduced distance to target, and their lower altitude may allow for lines of sight not achievable by a larger aircraft that must maintain larger battle-space awareness. Smaller aircraft however may not have the velocity or the range to reach the target of interest, and may need to be deployed by another vehicle, such as a mother-ship aircraft, a ground vehicle, a ship, or another type of vehicle. These smaller aircraft may not have the endurance or range to return to base when their mission is completed. Therefore, these smaller aircraft may need to be disposed or recovered at the end of their mission. Recovery may be a more attractive option, as it may prevent sensitive technology from falling into enemy hands, may allow commanders to operate the system independent of supply chains, and may offer lower lifecycle cost.
However, there may be many problems involved with having daughter aircraft recovered by a mother-ship aircraft, or another type of vehicle. For instance, the daughter aircraft and the mother-ship aircraft or other type of vehicle may operate in different velocity regimes. The landing of an unmanned aircraft vehicle or another type of aircraft vehicle onto the mother-ship aircraft or other type of vehicle may drive weight and inefficiencies into the structure, payload, and other systems. If the mother-ship or other type of vehicle is to continue its mission after the recovery of the daughter aircraft, the recovered aircraft may interfere with the launch of additional daughter aircraft or impose drag penalties on the mother-ship or other type of vehicle that may significantly hinder performance or mission capability. Additionally, other types of problems may be experienced.
A system and/or method is needed to decrease one or more problems associated with one or more of the existing systems and/or methods for recovering air vehicles.